- The additional sales tax would not apply to anything that isn’t already taxed in Il...

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A few facts about the Schools Facilities Sales Tax proposal:

- The additional sales tax would not apply to anything that isn’t already taxed in Illinois, including cars, boats, mobile homes, and farm equipment and parts.

- The sales tax revenue could only be spent on facilities costs, for either new capital projects or to pay down bonds.

- Freeport is coordinating with the other four school units in Stephenson County on the proposal. Money from the tax would be distributed among the districts based on student population in each.

Upgraded lockers, a new school roof and boiler repairs are a few of the perks Warren Community students have enjoyed in recent years thanks to funding from a schools-driven sales tax in Jo Daviess County.

Voters there approved a 1 percentage-point sales tax increase in 2009, which the county board later knocked down to 0.5 percent.

“It’s making this school district viable,” said Francis Fennell, superintendent of Warren Community Unit District 205.

Fennell said almost 60 percent of the K-12 school’s lockers were broken and 80 percent of the roof needed repairs. That work was funded partly with the $120,000 the district gets from the sales tax each year.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do some of the things we did do without it,” he said.

Freeport School District officials are considering a ballot referendum asking Stephenson County voters to approve a sales tax increase to help fund school facility expenses. A maximum 1 percentage-point sales tax increase is allowed, though it could be imposed in increments of 0.25 percent. The sales tax rate is 8 percent in Freeport and 6.75 percent elsewhere in Stephenson county.

To get the measure on the March primary ballot, the Freeport School Board must approve it by Dec. 30, said Patrick McDermott, the district’s assistant superintendent for business.

A 1 percentage-point sales tax increase would allow the Freeport district to generate $1.5 million outside its traditional property tax sources. That money would be used to help pay off $2.5 million in annual bond payments, which would lessen the need for property taxes to make those payments.

Regional Superintendent Aaron Mercier said Carroll County school officials are also considering sending a 1 percentage-point sales tax referendum to voters next spring. The proposal was voted down by residents there in a previous election. Carroll County’s current sales tax rate is 6.5 percent.

“It’s still somewhat controversial because it is a new tax,” Mercier said. “But once they’ve gotten through the controversy in the places it’s been done, we’ve seen just ongoing improvements to the facilities.”

River Ridge Superintendent Brad Albrecht said there haven’t been many immediate project needs at his district’s 11-year-old school building. So the Jo Daviess sales tax funding there is being saved for future capital project needs. He said River Ridge gets about $9,500 a month, a little less than $115,000 annually.

“Our school board did not take a stand on it. We had a neutral stance,” Albrecht said of the 2009 discussions, adding that some residents and businesses in the area were opposed to it at the time. “But it passed, and obviously we are happy to have the funds. We’ll be using it to update and do school improvements.”

Page 2 of 2 - Fennell said he hasn’t heard concerns from retailers or residents in his area about shopping habits changing when the sales tax went up. If anything, he hears from residents who choose Jo Daviess stores over those in neighboring counties because of the local funding benefit.

“They say they’re going to pay tax no matter what, so they’d rather have that half-cent come back to our schools,” Fennell said.